Watch Dogs: The Vigilante Returns
by darkrai-the-slayer
Summary: Dedsec has returned a terrorist organization years after they were thought eliminated. Only one man can stop them, but he is nowhere to be found. Can Blume track him down and enlist his help in time to prevent Dedsec from shutting down the ctOS permanently and taking control of Chicago?
1. Prologue: The Stadium

**Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs**

Prologue: The Stadium

The stadium was packed. The crowd was going crazy over the home run. None of this mattered to the 5 masked men moving quickly and systematically down the pristine hallways of the basement. The security guard at the staff entrance lay in a storage closet, a bullet hole in his head.

The masked men strode confidently down the hallways, silenced submachine guns gripped tightly in their hands. Every security guard they came across received a bullet to the forehead for their trouble.

Eventually, the group reached the security control room, their objective. Bursting through the doors, the 5 men let rip with their silenced guns, riddling the unfortunate security men with bullets.

Once the 2 security guards were dead, the group took up their respective positions in the security room. Two covered the door entrance, while two others plugged a compact laptop into the security terminal. The last member went to the wall and opened the ctOS box and plugged his phone in, tapping the screen to run a custom-made program.

The multiple screens flashed to show the stands in the baseball stadium. The two men at the control panel manipulated joysticks plugged into the laptop, turning the cameras. The custom profiler program in the laptop was capable of scanning thousands of people in a matter of seconds and stealing their information. The cameras panned over the crowd as the program downloaded all the relevant information into the local hard drive before uploading it to a secure cloud-based server, only for the data to be redownloaded at a secure location and wiped from the cloud.

Once the data transfer was complete, the men packed up all their equipment and left as silently as they had come.

The security guard's bodies were found by a shocked janitor a few hours after the ball game had ended. They were piled up in the security control room, with a strange marking projected onto the wall with a chilling message.

The projection on the wall was one the people of Chicago knew well. A digitized skull made up of ASCII code, and the message simply said, "WE ARE BACK"

 **A/N hey guys this is a simple Watch Dogs fanfic, this is just the prologue, so do expect more to come in the near future, and if you want to read more of my work, you can check out my profile.**

 **as always, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing, and don't forget to enjoy the story**

 **stay awesome, and happy reading!**

 **peace, Darkrai**


	2. Chapter 1: Security

**Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs**

Chapter 1: Security

*Profiler activated…

ctOS Database Accessed…

Name: Laura Annette Brendan

Occupation: Blume Security Chief

Income: $15,000 per month

Note: Was responsible for bringing down Dedsec 2 years ago

Laura Annette Brendan walked down the hallway at Blume headquarters with long, measured strides. Although having only stepped up to the post of security chief a short while after that fiasco with that Vigilante fellow, she had worked hard and within half a year of entering her post, she had ordered a series of arrests that brought down a large majority of Dedsec's inner circle, and IP addresses and bank accounts known to be affiliated with Dedsec had been locked down.

Laura was highly respected among the employees at Blume, and even though she was known to metaphorically muscle her way through various proceedings to get what she wanted, it was widely agreed that her methods were usually successful, so the higher-ups tended to give in to her, confident that her unorthodox methods would yield results.

Right now though, Laura was seriously pissed off. If looks could kill, she could become a mass murderer simply by stepping onto the street. In her hand, she clutched the reason for why she was so angry. It was the report that had landed on her desk, detailing the incident at the baseball stadium. The incident had been kept under wraps from the media, as it would understandably cause widespread panic.

As Laura advanced towards the conference room she had booked, other Blume employees ducked out of her way, not wanting to piss her off any further. The Blume head of marketing started to say hi, but broke off and turned away when he saw her. The tall, slender blonde gripped the report even tighter, crumpling the high-res photo of the Dedsec logo being projected onto the wall with several of her best security officers sprawled on the ground with clean bullet holes to the head.

Bursting into the conference room, Laura was slightly placated to see her dedicated team of Blume employees, all handpicked personally by her, already sitting there waiting for her.

Slumping in the chair at the head of the long table, suddenly exhausted, she turned to her secretary. "Well, John? What do you have for me?"

The stocky man nodded, replying, "We've got quite a lot, madam. We got our local analyst teams to cross-check the logo with past known logos and we found a major difference. The ASCII code that makes up the Dedsec symbol has changed, and can be translated into reading 'We will stop at nothing'; and also another decoded message reads 'The Vigilante can't save you this time'."

Laura frowned. The mysterious Vigilante, of which there was no record of in the ctOS databases for some reason, had gone off the radar a little over a year ago. He was known to have had contact with Dedsec in the past, but a salvaged recording from before the disastrous blackout back then had revealed the two had had a falling out, with the Vigilante refusing to give Dedsec access to the ctOS databanks. The Vigilante was praised by the people for stopping crimes, and most witness reports pointed to a tall man dressed with a cap, a neckscarf and a trench coat.

"Anything else?" Laura asked. A lithe young man, one of the newest members of her team leaned forward. "We're analysing the security camera footage of the attack. The men were masked but some of the cameras in the stadium are equipped with infrared scanners. Forensics is doing reconstruction of their faces and should get back to us with results soon."

Laura nodded. "Thank you, Jake. Let me know immediately once you identify who the men are."

A short, middle-aged woman slid a report over to Laura. "These are the specs of the projector we found at the scene. Highly advanced stuff, not the kind of thing you can buy at the local tech shop. The lab guys are looking for fingerprints, but their initial guess is that it'll be inconclusive. Once they're done with it they'll pass it on to the tech guys to dismantle it and look for other clues."

"Thank you very much, Jennifer." Laura replied. "Well, everyone, we've got a group of Dedsec-affiliated murderers on the loose, and we've got almost nothing to go on. John, write letters to notify the families of the victims and tell them we are working around the clock to identify the killers. Let's get to work. We have got to find those men."

*10 minutes later*

Laura collapsed onto the sofa in her private office. She was wearier than she had ever been. The apparent resurgence of Dedsec would be a huge hit to her reputation, thanks in part to her proud declaration that "Dedsec will never rise from the ashes again" two years ago at a press conference.

Laura was exhausted, and she closed her eyes, wanting to rest for a while, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, a rapid knocking woke her up. Looking at the clock on the wall, Laura was surprised to discover she had been snoozing for only 20 minutes. "Come in," she said.

Her secretary John burst in through the door, looking flustered. "Ma'am, I think you should see this." He grabbed the remote and turned on the television mounted on the wall.

Laura sat up as the flatscreen TV flickered to life. There was an emergency news report being broadcasted, and the pretty newsreader was in the middle of delivering a report. "…millions of dollars have been siphoned from Chicago bank accounts in a matter of minutes using stolen credit card and bank account information. ProviBlue Bank is working to lock down the affected bank accounts and track down the missing funds, but experts' initial speculation is that the funds will have been transferred many times over to offshore accounts and to other bank accounts, and it is highly likely that the funds will never be recovered."

The petite woman paused, holding her hand to her earpiece. "Folks, an update has come in. The hacker group Dedsec, thought to be defunct, has claimed responsibility for the bank hacking. Investigations are ongoing, but for now, ProviBlue Bank spokespeople recommend the people of Chicago to remain calm, and withdraw as much hard cash as possible to prevent funds from being stolen from their bank accounts. Dedsec has released a statement online claiming that they were able to steal the relevant information due to a vulnerability in the ctOS. Blume has yet to release an official statement, but their spokesperson is expected to do so later today."

Laura was flabbergasted. She had hoped to keep the supposed revival of Dedsec under wraps from the public until she had enough information so it wouldn't be just a piece of news, but now Dedsec had gone and done that for her, and it wasn't necessarily going to be good.

But the pretty news lady wasn't finished. "Dedsec have also claimed to have video footage of how they obtained the information and will be releasing that video later today at 1700 hours sharp. They claim that this video footage will be undeniable truth about the vulnerability of ctOS."

John turned to Laura. "We're already working on tracking down the relevant IP addresses and newer IP addresses that seem suspicious."

Laura was pale. "That won't be enough. Prepare for a city-wide ctOS lockdown on file uploads and downloads. Black out the city if need be. That video must not be released!"

John nodded and ran out of her office. Laura got off the sofa and rearranged her slightly rumpled clothes, before stepping outside.

The Blume headquarter building was a hive of activity. It was all hands on deck, with Blume employees typing furiously away at their computers and rushing about with documents in hand. Laura thought for a while, before dashing back into her office and re-emerging with a piece of notepaper in her hands. She grabbed the nearest intern, passed him the note and instructed him to deliver it straight to the IT department. The note was a message for the IT department to shut down all cameras in the Blume building, as it was known for hackers to exploit the cameras being linked to ctOS to gain access to certain areas and sensitive information.

Laura looked around at the men and women rushing about doing their job. She thought to herself, "This is going to be a long day."

Just above her, a camera moved slightly, panning so she was in full view of the camera. Laura had no idea she was being watched. But it was not Dedsec that was watching her, for Dedsec had yet to gain full access to the ctOS…

 **A/N hey guys, here's the first full chapter of my watch dogs fic, hope you enjoyed it and if you got the little hint at the end, good for you, you've figured out who's going to be making an appearance in the next chapter! laura is going to be the main character of this fic, and great things are in store for her, so stay tuned!**

 **as always, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing, and don't forget to enjoy the story!**

 **stay awesome, and happy reading!**

 **Darkrai the Slayer, signing off for now**


	3. Chapter 2: Ballad of Bullets

**Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs**

Chapter 2: Ballad of Bullets

Laura was exhausted. It had been a long day, and as she entered the carpark she glanced at her watch. 11.48 pm. She had prepared an emergency press conference, firing off emails quicker than lightning and typing up a script. She had grabbed hold of John and instructed him to compile a series of security video footage. She had ensured that the ctOS lockdown on file uploads was maintained until which time she had decided it was safe. Laura had personally supervised the impromptu upload tracking center and ordered teams of Blume fixers and police officers to raid the offending locations. Of 15 locations raided, 4 were confirmed to be Dedsec hideouts and 5 more were suspected of being rerouted IP addresses controlled by Dedsec. The 7 Dedsec affiliates caught were currently in holding cells that Laura had instructed to be disconnected from the ctOS, and were awaiting interrogations.

Despite her weariness, Laura was pleased with herself. She was confident that the press conference she had given had restored the public's confidence in ctOS by using security footage of the stadium attack and pointing out that the masked men had used custom-designed software to gain access instead of exploiting vulnerabilities in the system. She had pointed out that the men had used violence to gain access to the system, and the fact that they needed to gain physical access also pointed to the strength of the system, largely in thanks to measures and firewalls installed after vulnerabilities had been exposed during the Vigilante situation a few years ago.

Even the ctOS upload lock had been lifted, although Laura had instructed the upload tracking crew to remain vigilant and be wary of file uploads larger than 300 megabytes.

Laura climbed into her Adamant S-series and turned on the engine. The throaty roar of the naturally-aspirated V8 was as soothing to her as listening to classical music. As she turned out of the basement carpark, the radio came to life, playing some rock band of some sort. As Laura pulled on to the main road, the music ended and a news report came on.

"Today, we saw quite a turn of events in Chicago. ProviBlue bank was compromised and millions of dollars were siphoned from bank accounts by Dedsec. The once-defunct hacker group claimed to have acquired the relevant information through a ctOS vulnerability, but Blume's security chief Laura Annette Brendan revealed this afternoon at a press conference that Dedsec had actually launched a physical attack at a baseball stadium, killing 7 security guards before using a custom-designed program to take control of the cameras and hack into people's phones to acquire the necessary data. Dedsec's promise of uploading a video showing ctOS's fatal vulnerability was not fulfilled, and police raids have uncovered at least 4 Dedsec hideouts, with 7 alleged members of the hacker group arrested and awaiting questioning."

Laura smiled. Despite the late hour, she was confident that the people's faith in Blume and the ctOS had been restored somewhat. Blume's CEO had texted her to congratulate her on the press conference, and she had kept track of news reports throughout the day, with many other commentators analysing the video footage that she had made available, and with even the professionals saying it was genuine.

The families of the deceased security guards had been a great help too, coming out to speak with reporters and news channels, denouncing the Dedsec attack and pleading for the people to fight back. The most powerful set of images came from a young lady with a newborn cradled in her arms, standing in front of a run-down shack, whose husband had been killed at the baseball stadium, pleading for help.

Laura turned onto a road that would lead onto the expressway and subsequently home, absently noting that it seemed quite deserted.

All of a sudden, an explosion rocked her world, shattering her car's windows and jolting it violently. A plume of thick steam billowed into her car, and she wrenched the steering wheel. Laura felt the car begin to aquaplane, so through the hazy thickness of her mind she straightened the steering wheel and pumped the brakes, but to no avail.

As her battered muscle car cleared the thick cloud of steam, engine whining pathetically, Laura realised she was headed straight for a tree. She pumped the brakes again, but it was too late as the car smashed straight into the thick trunk, and everything was black.

Laura groaned, eyes flitting open. As her senses returned to her, she remembered that there had been an explosion and she had crashed her car. The source of the explosion was clear, even through her blurry eyes. A steam pipe had detonated directly below her car and she had somehow managed to wedge her car against a sturdy tree trunk.

Laura pushed open the crumpled passenger side door, still groggy from the crash. She climbed out, crawling on all fours as her broken Adamant ticked over, steam issuing from under the wrecked bonnet. She thought she heard voices, but Laura dismissed it as an illusion as she slumped against the tree.

Then she heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

Laura was instantly alert. There is nothing like realising that one is about to be shot to sober oneself up.

Laura peeked through the smashed windows of her car. Through the now-subsiding plume of steam, she could make out several shadowy figures, holding the outlines of what were undoubtedly guns to their shoulders. She slipped her hand into her torn jacket, and pulled out her P-9mm standard issue Blume security handgun. She had never had occasion to use it, but Chicago's crime situation was bad enough that she kept it in a shoulder holster under her formal dress jacket all the time.

She pulled back the slide, chambering a round. She had been trained in its use, as had all Blume security workers, but now her hand trembled like never before.

She rested the butt of the pistol on the crumpled window frame to steady her hand. Laura looked down the iron sights, putting the nearest human silhouette within the inverted triangle that formed the sights. But she couldn't pull the trigger, despite knowing that she could be killed any instant, and she was in no condition to run.

Suddenly, a sharp burst of automatic gunfire rang out from somewhere beside her, and one silhouette convulsed and collapsed. The other silhouettes could be seen hurriedly ducking for cover. Laura turned. There, crouched behind a low wall, was a man in a cap, wearing a long trench coat, with a camo-painted assault rifle gripped in his hands.

As she watched, he tossed a strange-looking device over towards where the hidden men were. Then he pulled out a smartphone of some kind and tapped the screen. Almost instantaneously there was a loud explosion, followed by the pained cries of men.

Laura jumped as another man suddenly gripped her arm. He was grizzled, with a healthy beard growing, dreadlocks drenched in sweat. In his hand he clutched an SMG-11 machine pistol. A pair of sunglasses was perched on his baseball cap.

The man with the assault rifle shouted to the other man, "T-bone! Get her out of here! I'll hold them off!"

The man gripping Laura's arm, whom she assumed to be T-bone, shouted back, "You can't hold them off forever! Reinforcements are coming!"

The other man shook his head. "I don't plan on holding them off forever! Just get her to the car!" He then pulled a grenade launcher off his back and fired a round towards where most of the bullets were coming from. Another explosion ensued.

T-bone grunted. "Come on, missy. Let's get going." He dragged Laura by the arm, firing measured bursts back towards the fight with his SMG-11.

Laura raised her weapon arm and blindly fired a few rounds, yet she hoped she hadn't killed or seriously hurt anyone. She noticed the other man run over to her wreck of a car and attach a strange looking device to it, before running after her, also firing measured bursts back.

Once the trio were a safe distance away, the other man tapped his phone again, and the Chicago night was rocked with a much bigger explosion. Laura realised that her car had just been blown up by a stranger, albeit one who had just saved her life.

T-bone and the other man ushered her towards a low-profile Japanese sedan and pushed her into the back seat.

The other man got in the driver's seat, telling T-bone, "Get a comm jammer up. They're bound to try and track us down. Let's get back to the Bunker before we do anything else. "

Laura was starting to see stars again, but she managed enough strength to ask, "Who are you guys?"

T-bone, who had gotten into the passenger seat, turned back towards her and said, "My name is Raymond, Raymond Kenney. This here is Aiden Pearce. You know him as the Vigilante."

 **A/N hey guys, heres the second chapter of this little watch dogs fic, hope you all enjoyed it. Laura is about to be thrown into a world she knew existed, but had no idea how complex it was. anyway, this fic will be quite an interesting write, and i'll be focusing more on this fic and my star wars fic cos i've hit a major writers block on my pokemon fic.**

 **anyways, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing, and don't forget to enjoy the story!**

 **stay awesome, and happy reading**

 **peace, Darkrai**


	4. Chapter 3: From Death, Life is Begotten

**Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs**

Chapter 3: From Death, Life is Begotten

Laura was out like a light. Her dreams were fragmented, and she tumbled through them. She heard voices drifting through her dreams.

"Are you sure….saved her?"

"She knows the ctOS inside out… great help…"

"Her clothes…all torn…"

"Get Tobias…buy some new…"

"Get into…database…start changing…"

Laura awoke on a thin mattress, still dressed in her torn and tattered dress suit from the car crash. She lay flat on the mattress as her sight returned. Sitting up, she noticed she was in a dimly-lit, barren room, the walls made up of corrugated steel. The air was cool, and she could faintly hear the whir of cooling fans, and it reminded Laura of the server rooms in the ctOS centres around Chicago. The basic digital clock next to the bed read 08:26.

Looking around, she noticed the room was sparsely-decorated, but on a chair nearby lay a set of fresh clothes, set out for her.

Laura got up, feeling sore in places she didn't know could feel sore, and hobbled over to the chair. There was a note. It read:

"Ms Brendan, these clothes are for you. Once you wake up and get changed, please head downstairs and find us.

~V"

Laura set the note down, and checked out the T-shirt and jeans that had been set out for her. Her gun was in her shoulder holster, draped over the back of the chair, and a leather biker's jacket was slung over the chair's backrest as well.

A few minutes later, clad in the new clothes, and looking surprisingly fashionable, with her hair tied up in a ponytail to fit the look, handgun tucked comfortably in its holster, Laura headed out of the room. What she saw blew her away.

On the far wall, a bank of screens was mounted. The screens showed scenes from what Laura assumed was the streets of Chicago as seen from the ctOS security cameras. In the middle of the cavernous room was a set of tables laden with heavy-duty computer hardware, with numerous wires and cables snaking out and criss-crossing over the floor. As she descended the stairs, she caught sight of a massive bank of servers lined up against the walls, soft blue lights blinking gently as their cooling fans whirred on.

The Vigilante was currently at the table, perched over a computer while T-Bone was busy typing away at his station. At her approach, T-Bone looked up and nodded to her before returning to his frantic typing. Aiden completely ignored her, continuing to work at his station.

Laura peered over his shoulder. Aiden seemed to be working on some kind of 3-dimensional face model. Strangely, it reminded Laura of herself, but something seemed off.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Without turning to face her, he replied, "I'm changing the database facial recognition files for you. To the world, you're already dead, so if you're going to be of any use to us, the cameras on the street mustn't be able to pick you up."

Laura blinked. "What do you mean, I'm dead to the world?"

The Vigilante waved to T-Bone. "Ray, show her."

The dreadlocked man nodded and typed a few commands into another laptop.

The large bank of screens flickered and changed, showing a news report. There was no sound, but Laura could read well enough.

"BLUME SECURITY CHIEF KILLED IN TERRORIST ATTACK, DEDSEC CLAIMS RESPONSBILITY", the headline blared, accompanied by a video of firefighting crews extinguishing her burning wreck of a car.

Laura was stunned. She stared at the words "Blume security chief killed". She could hardly comprehend this sudden turn of events.

Laura was snapped out of her reverie when Aiden turned to Ray and asked, "Have you swapped the DNA data?"

Raymond nodded and replied, "Aye, the DNA data's all good, now it's just the facial recog system left."

Laura was confused. "Wait, what's going on?"

T-Bone proceeded to explain for her. "So what's happened is that after we left, the Dedsec fixers approached the car, but they couldn't find us, so they grabbed one of their own dead, dumped him in the car, and set it alight. We got hold of the camera footage and identified the dude they dumped in it, and we've swapped the DNA data so when the police do DNA tests to identify the body, the data will point to the body being yours, even though it's not. But, judging from the burn temperature recorded by the ctOS cameras, its likely there won't be much left to identify. Dedsec also wiped the memories of the cameras in the immediate vicinity and planted a false video of your car exploding then catching fire. We were barely able to retrieve the original video before they broke into the local mainframe."

Laura didn't know what to say. This was all a little too much. She slumped on a nearby chair, trying to process everything. Her supposed death, the swapping of DNA data, changing of facial recognition files. Her thoughts turned to her current predicament.  
"So what am I supposed to do now?" Laura asked.

Aiden turned to face her. "Now that you're officially dead, we can train you to be a hacker."

Laura blanched. "A what now?" A hacker. Laura, former security chief at Blume, was to become a hacker, the very thing she had spent her entire career defending against.

Aiden turned to face her. "We will train you here, not only in hacking, but also in combat. Only me and T-Bone have access to this island, and the cameras are blocked to everyone else, so we have total and absolute privacy."

Raymond snickered. "Not only that, we hacked the Wikipedia database to say that the island was haunted, and we erased every trace of the island ever being a ctOS test site. We also compiled a series of blackmail against Charlotte Gardner to ensure she took an early retirement and never spill about this location."

Laura's eyes widened. "Charlotte Gardner? I thought she retired because of health issues!"

Raymond let loose a hearty laugh. "Well, you thought wrong, missy. I installed a bug in her phone when she was checking out the Bunker way back after that blackout. We found out she had some rather shady dealings, so we stalked her to a meeting, and recorded the whole exchange with some drug dealers and corrupt coppers. After she left, we went in, shot the place up, and we confronted her with the blackmail. She agreed to whatever terms we had, and that was the end of that."

Laura sat back in her chair. "Wow," she breathed. She was genuinely impressed. These two men, despite their ragged appearance and obvious personality contrast, were an efficient and effective team, able to stand up to Blume and Dedsec.

Aiden finished his typing and slammed on the enter key. He leaned back as the computer screen flashed a series of random-looking sequences as the system booted out of the ctOS databases. He stood up, pushing his chair back, and turned to Laura.

"Well, that's the facial recog system dealt with. Ms Brendan, its time to start your training." He said.

"Are you ready to become that which you have fought against for so long? Are you ready to defend the ctOS from Dedsec?" His eyes were steely.

Laura looked up into his eyes, the eyes of a man who has seen too much, done too much, yet ready to continue fighting for justice.

"Yes."

 **A/N hey guys, third chap of this story is up, hope you enjoyed it. i just wanted to get this chap up so that i can get started on the next chap of my star wars fic, i've left that one for too long. term tests are coming, so it'll probably take a little longer, but it will be up in good time.**

 **as always, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing, and don't forget to enjoy the story!**

 **to all my chinese or asian readers, Happy Chinese New Year!**

 **stay awesome guys**

 **Peace, Darkrai**


	5. Chapter 4: Training

**Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs**

Chapter 4: Training

Gunshots rang out on the deserted island, followed by dull pings as the bullets found their marks.

Laura gripped the gun, pivoting right then left as she tracked the moving steel targets that Aiden and Raymond had set up. Each shot carved the air with surgical precision. Laura fired another shot, her P-9mm jolting back with the recoil as the slide ejected another shell casing.

Aiden and Raymond were standing some distance behind her, leaning on a shipping container. The entrance to the Bunker was just a short walk away from the improvised shooting range. Laura could barely hear the two whispering over her gunfire.

Eventually her P-9mm ran out, and Laura shucked the empty clip and reached for another one on the table next to her. She started as someone grabbed her hand. It was Aiden. "Now then, we know you can hit targets, but what about hitting actual humans?" He asked.

Laura blinked. "Ah…about that. Um, I don't think I'm ready for that just yet…" she stuttered.

Aiden frowned at her. "In our line of work, we need to be able to kill without hesitation or remorse. You need to be able to do so too." His voice was so emotionless Laura was stunned. These were human lives they were talking about, and Aiden was talking about them almost like they were nothing but disposable items and not people with lives, with families and friends.

Laura stared him down. At work, she was used to staring down her employees or superiors, with those people eventually backing down and letting her have her way. However, Aiden was a different story. His eyes showed not defiance, but a distant nonchalance.

Eventually, T-Bone stepped in. "Aiden, if she doesn't want to kill, then leave her be. We'll have to find another way."

Aiden grunted. "Fine. Take her inside and start her on the basic hacking. I need to go see Tobias."

Raymond nodded. They watched as Aiden stalked away, tromping through the knee-high grass. Raymond gently gripped Laura's arm and steered her towards the hidden bunker entrance.

Laura stepped into the corrugated steel shipping container and closed the door behind her. She looked out the window at the darkening sky as the aged motor whined and the shipping container lifted into the air with an audible creak. Raymond leaned against the wall of the container, silently watching her.

Laura sighed. "Why'd it have to be me?"

Raymond grunted and levered himself off the wall as the container arrived at the Bunker. He wordlessly pulled the door open and stepped into the Bunker, avoiding Laura's question.

Laura shook her head and followed him down to the cavernous room. Raymond had grabbed a slim laptop and plonked it onto the table. Pulling up a chair, he inserted a hard drive as the laptop booted up. Laura sat down next to him, the thin plastic chair creaking under her weight.

Raymond turned to her. "I'm booting up a special program. Its modelled after the ctOS, same firewalls, same vulnerabilities et cetera et cetera. We'll be using this custom program to teach you how to hack."

For several hours after that, Laura practiced on the simulated ctOS program, using her basic knowledge of coding to break through the firewalls that she herself had ordered to be installed in the actual ctOS, with a few pointers and a little help from Raymond.

Laura sat back as the laptop pinged, indicating a successful attempt at breaking through a firewall. This one had been more difficult than the rest, what with an alarmed timer and several junctions to be defused simultaneously. She wiped the sweat from her brow as the simulation ran its course and booted up a different firewall for her to break through.

She jumped as Raymond set down a glass of water next to her. "Take a break," he said. "You've been practicing for hours."

She nodded and paused the simulation, turning to accept the glass of water gratefully. Laura jumped as Aiden suddenly appeared next to her, almost spilling the water. "Where'd you come from?" she asked.

Not saying a word, Aiden put two strange looking devices on the table next to the laptop. One was a smartphone of some kind, but it looked rugged, heavy-duty. The other was a gun-like object, with a transparent barrel. A small tank was attached to the back, and on the side of the barrel several small pockets held small darts.

Laura looked up at Aiden questioningly. Aiden simply said, "Your profiler device and a tranquilizer gun. Tobias made it on very short notice, so I will be going to him to collect more darts later on."

Laura was confused. "Who's Tobias?" she asked.

Raymond gripped her forearm, comforting her. "Tobias is an old contact. He runs a shop that sells hacking tools. Relax. He has no love for any organization, Blume or otherwise. He only cares about the money. Aiden beat him once, to get access to the Bunker, so he doesn't dare cross us for fear of anything worse."

Aiden touched Laura's shoulder gently. "Get some sleep. We will train you in the use of the profiler more tomorrow." He walked over and closed the lid on the laptop. "Get some sleep." He repeated.

"You need to rest."

 **A/N sorry guys, but ive been moving house recently and it has gotten really busy. I don't even have wi-fi and im being forced to upload this with my mobile hotspot. writer's block is a real bitch, and its hard to think of ideas, which is why this chap is kinda short. ill be working on the next chap of my star wars fic after this, the shits really about to hit the fan on that one so this chap is gonna have to suffice for now**

 **as always guys, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing, and any ideas for characters, chapters etc are more than welcome**

 **happy reading guys, and don't forget to enjoy the story!**

 **peace out, Darkrai**


	6. Chapter 5: Profiling

**Disclaimer: I do not own Watch Dogs**

Chapter 5: Profiling

The streets of Chicago were busy as usual, people walking up and down the streets, cars and trucks rumbling over poorly-mended roads which still bore the scars of exploded steam pipes.

Amongst the crowd walked a solitary female figure, cap pulled low over her face, blond hair tied up in a ponytail that swished over the leather biker jacket she wore. The woman was looking intently at her phone, so she might have been mistaken for just any regular person walking down the street.

Laura, however, was not browsing the internet like most people would assume. She was looking for someone. A certain Jacob Martinus. That was the target Aiden had assigned her to look for. According to the ctOS files, he actively participated in filming and distributing child pornography. Aiden had decided he had gone unpunished for too long.

Stopping at a Starbucks near where Jacob usually bought his groceries, Laura bought an espresso and sat at a corner table, facing the street. Tapping innocuously on her profiler, Laura brought up a feed from a camera nearby.

A voice crackled in her discreet earpiece. "Jacob should show up any minute. We've got the facial recognition and triangulation algorithms up and running. Just stay cool and remember what we discussed." Aiden's tinny voice fizzed out.

Laura knew her part. She was simply to locate Jacob, hack his phone and obtain his phone number as well as other personal details, then call him so that Aiden and Raymond could lock on to his jailbroken phone's signal and track him to his hideout. She sipped her coffee. Patience was of virtue.

Time ticked by. Laura rubbed her eyes, getting tired from staring intently at the screen for so long. Her coffee cup was down to its last dregs. The facial recognition program designed by Aiden was far from perfect, so she had to rely on her eyepower and try to identify Jacob using the last known ctOS picture of him.

Soon enough, Laura soon noticed a dishevelled man dressed in a dirty, stained shirt and too-tight Bermuda shorts emerge from a nearby alley. His face was partially hidden by his cap, and he seemed to allergic to light, staying in the shadows. Laura's interest was piqued by this man, and with a light touch, she manipulated the on-screen joystick, turning the camera to focus on the man.

Checking the menu for that particular camera, Laura was delighted to find out it had infrared scanning functions. Tapping the screen to enable it, she zoomed the camera in on the man, using the ctOS's inbuilt target tracking system to ensure the camera could get a full scan.

The man then disappeared into the grocery store, but the camera had done its work. Laura downloaded the infrared scan and quickly sent it off to Aiden, who was staked out in a "borrowed" news van nearby.

Moments later, her phone beeped, and a notification informed her that the target was a match. Aiden's voice crackled over her earpiece. "Excellent, we've found him. Now you need to get closer and hack his phone."

Laura nodded, knowing Aiden was surely watching her through another ctOS security camera. She stood up, leaving her empty coffee cup behind, and made her way to the intersection.

The lights changed, and as Laura walked across the road, Jacob emerged from the grocery store, arms laden with groceries. Laura watched as the dishevelled man stopped in front of an ATM and dumped his groceries on the ground, presumably to withdraw some cash.

Laura realised this was a golden opportunity, and quickly tapped on her screen to try and take control of the ATM. In her haste, she didn't look where she was going, and she collided head-on with a middle-aged man in a suit.

Papers and coffee went flying, and heads turned at the commotion. Laura hit the ground hard, as did the middle-aged man, who was in the middle of a call using his Bluetooth earpiece. Laura suddenly realised she had dropped her profiler in the collision, and tried to reach for it.

The man suddenly gripped her arm. "Do you know who I am?" the man bellowed. Laura winced, for he was quite near her ear. "You young people only know how to look at your cursed screens all day, and you never look where you are going!"

Laura happened to glimpse her screen, and to her immense relief, the profiler displayed a successful connection to the ATM. No doubt Aiden was now gleaning all sorts of valuable information about Jacob.

True to form, as the man continued his maddened rant, Aiden's voice buzzed over her earpiece. "Nicely done, Laura, we've got his phone number and registered address. We can go after him now. Let me just quickly solve your problem on the road."

The man gripping Laura's arm suddenly winced and cried out, releasing her arm to cup his ear, furiously clawing at his earpiece. Laura took the opportunity to scamper free, grabbing her profiler in the process.

As she dashed across the intersection with impatient drivers honking at her and the incapacitated man, Laura couldn't help but notice that Jacob had disappeared.

Cursing herself for letting Jacob get away, Laura looked up at the sound of screeching tyres. A news van was pulling up next to her, and as it rolled to a stop beside her, the side door slid open, revealing Raymond sitting in a chair bolted to the bottom, surrounded by high-tech equipment. Laura leapt in, sliding the door shut as the van screeched off the line.

Laura sat in one of the swivel chairs as Aiden swerved through traffic. Raymond was typing away furiously. "We're trying to track Jacob down using the cameras, but he's smart, and he's paranoid. We need you to make that call so we can track him down." Raymond typed a few more commands, and a series of numbers popped up on a nearby screen.

Laura punched in the numbers, then turned to Raymond. He nodded and gave her the thumbs up, indicating the triangulation program was up and running. Taking a deep breath, Laura hit the call button.

*1 hour later*

The news van pulled up outside a dilapidated garage. Aiden, Raymond and Laura disembarked, with Raymond hauling two large containers which held their equipment.

The rusty garage door rolled upwards slowly with a painful creak, and a small, bald man stepped out from under it.

Aiden waved absently to him while fiddling with something on his profiler. "Hey Tobias. Bring this stuff back to the Bunker, will ya?"

Tobias grunted. "Yeah, sure. I'll get it done."

Aiden nodded. "Good man." Aiden then waved to Laura and Raymond, beckoning them to follow him. He led them a few garage doors down, and then yanked one door up to reveal a black van. The old, yellow fluorescent lights flickered on.

Aiden wordlessly led them around the back, and flung open the back doors of the van. Inside was every manner of assault rifle and shotgun mounted on racks welded to the sides of the van, with pistols and grenades in a glass-covered compartment on the floor of the van.

Aiden and Raymond set about arming themselves, with Aiden grabbing an M4 rifle, tucking spare magazines into his coat pocket, and slinging a combat shotgun under his coat. Raymond opted instead for a 12-gauge pump action sawn-off shotgun and twin 0.50-calibre Desert Eagle pistols.

Laura was confused. "Why are you so heavily armed?"

Aiden ignored her question and went on one knee to open the glass compartment. Raymond turned to her and explained. "We tracked him to an abandoned apartment complex. The whole place has been taken over by one of the gangs that popped up a while back, and he's under their protection. Turns out more than half of the money he makes from selling child porno goes to the gang. In return, they give him a place to stay that even the cops won't dare go."

Aiden turned to her, slipping a few grenades into his pockets. "We'll go in to take him out, and we'll be more than happy to dispose of any gang members that get in our way."

Laura's jaw must have dropped, because Aiden sighed and turned back to the glass compartment. Raymond's jaw tightened. He turned to Laura and said, "Listen, you don't have to come if you don't want to. There's gonna be blood, and there's gonna be people dying. It's inevitable, but it's okay if you feel uncomfortable with all that." He laid a hand on her shoulder.

Laura shrugged it off. "I can handle myself."

Aiden turned to her. "Are you sure?"

Laura nodded. "You could always use more help."

Aiden looked at her for a while, not saying anything, and Laura was wondering if she had gotten more than she had bargained for.

*45 minutes later*

And that was how Laura found herself behind the wheel of an inconspicuous Japanese sedan, with two heavily armed men in the backseat, driving to one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Chicago. This was not what she had planned when she had decided to help. Still, a getaway driver was one of the most important parts of any operation.

She dropped Aiden and Raymond off a few blocks away, and drove to their designated pick-up point, behind the apartment complex at a Seven-Eleven carpark that was separated from the apartment complex by just a thin metal fence.

Laura knew it would be a while before the assault began, so she went in and bought herself a coffee. She sat on the bonnet of the car, sipping her coffee.

Suddenly, distant shots rang out, followed by muffled explosions. Laura quickly hopped into the car and started the engine. Pulling out her profiler, Laura was surprised to see that the ctOS was still active in the apartment complex, so she decided to try and see if she could track Aiden and Raymond using the cameras.

She found them on the third floor, carving their way through the gang members. She wondered why the floor of the corridor was painted black, before realizing with horror that it was actually covered in blood.

Fighting the urge to retch, Laura continued to follow the duo's guns-blazing trail as they made their way to the fourth floor, sweeping every apartment methodically for Jacob.

Finally, they found his apartment, bursting through the door with bravado. Laura watched as they disappeared inside. All was calm for a moment, then there were two flashes in the hallway, with the muffled gunshots sounding tinny over the camera's microphone and her profiler's speaker.

Aiden and Raymond came rushing out, and as the gang members began to recover their senses and try to organize a counterattack, the two began shooting again, and Laura knew they were shooting to kill. She couldn't blame them though, for it was kill or be killed.

Soon they made it to the first floor, and more explosions rang out, both through her profiler's speakers and through the air. The next grenade blast took out the camera that Laura was looking through, and the sudden static jerked her back to reality.

Horror flooded Laura as she suddenly realized that she was parked the wrong way, meaning that she would have to reverse. She quickly jammed the gear lever into reverse, and began a three-point-turn.

Just as she got the car pointed the right way, Aiden and Raymond came vaulting over the fence and sprinted towards her car.

She revved the engine, and as the two got in, she floored it. The little sedan's engine screamed as the car shot off the mark, leaving tyre marks on the tarmac.

Laura swerved through traffic, drawing the ire of many other drivers. She kept looking in her rear mirror to try and see if anyone was following them, as Aiden and Raymond tried to catch their breath. Thankfully, there was no one.

Laura knew it had been a long night, but she had to ask. "Did you get him?"

Aiden, still breathless, simply nodded.

Laura continued driving.

 **A/N hey guys, whats going on. sorry for the long hiatus but school is really hectic, and that coupled with a pretty bad writer's block meant this chapter took a while to get up. many apologies for keeping you wonderful people waiting, and i hope you enjoy this chapter**

 **as always, feel free to leave a review commenting on my writing and the story, any advice is greatly appreciated**

 **remember to enjoy the story, and happy reading!**

 **peace, Darkrai**


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